X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine. Directed by Gavin Hood, the film is a prequel to the ''X-Men'' film series, focusing on the violent past of the mutant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and his relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber). The plot details Wolverine's childhood as James Howlett (Troye Sivan), his early encounters with Major William Stryker (Danny Huston), his time with Team X, and the bonding of Wolverine's skeleton with the indestructible metal adamantium during the Weapon X program. The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand, with Canada also serving as a location. Production and post-production were troubled, with conflicts arising between director Hood and Fox's executives, and an unfinished workprint being leaked on the Internet one month before the film's debut. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released worldwide on May 1, 2009 and their reviews were generally unfavorable, with critics considering the film and its screenplay uninspired, criticizing the poorly produced CGI but praising Hugh Jackman's performance. It opened at the top of the box office, and has grossed $179 million in the United States and Canada and over $373 million worldwide. Plot In 1845, James Howlett (Troye Sivan), a young boy living in Canada, sees his step-father killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan, his biological father. The trauma activates the boy's mutation: bone claws protrude from his hands, and he kills Thomas, who reveals that he is James' biological father. James flees along with Thomas' son Victor Creed, who is thus James' half-brother. They spend the next century as soldiers, fighting in the American Civil War, both World Wars, and the Vietnam War. In 1975, Victor kills a senior officer. James defends Victor and the two are sentenced to execution by firing squad, which they survive. Major William Stryker approaches them, now in military custody, and offers them membership in Team X, a group of mutants including Agent Zero, Wade Wilson, John Wraith, Fred Dukes, and Chris Bradley. They join the team, but the group's disregard for human life causes James to leave. Six years later, James, now using the alias Logan, works as a lumberjack in Canada, where he lives with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox, a schoolteacher. Stryker and Zero approach Logan at work. Stryker reports that Wade and Bradley have been killed, and he thinks someone is targeting the team's members. Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker, but after finding Kayla's bloodied body in the forest, Logan finds Victor at a local bar and loses a fight to him. Afterward, Stryker explains that Victor has gone rogue and offers Logan a way to become strong enough to get his revenge. Logan undergoes a painful operation to reinforce his skeleton with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Once the procedure is complete, Stryker attempts to betray Logan by ordering that his memory be erased, but Logan escapes. A kind elderly couple take him in, but Zero kills them. Logan kills Zero and swears to kill both Stryker and Victor. Logan locates John and Fred, Fred explaining that Victor is still working for Stryker, hunting down mutants for Stryker to experiment on at his new laboratory, known as "The Island" among them teenager Scott Summers. Fred mentions Remy "Gambit" LeBeau, who escaped from the island and therefore knows its location. John and Logan find Lebeau, then both fight Victor, who kills John and extracts his DNA. Agreeing to help release mutants that Stryker has captured, Gambit takes Logan to Stryker's facility on Three Mile Island. Logan learns that Kayla is alive, having conspired with Stryker to keep tabs on him in exchange for her sister's safety. However, Stryker refuses to release her sister and denies Victor the adamantium bonding promised for his service. Stryker activates Wade, now Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" with the powers of multiple mutants (Logan's healing power, John's teleportation, Bradley's electropathy, Summers' energy blasts, and Wade's swordsman skill) that obeys Stryker's command. Stryker refers to Weapon XI as the "Deadpool". While Logan and Victor fight Deadpool, Kayla is wounded leading the Island's captive mutants to safety; the mutants are subsequently rescued by Charles Xavier. Logan decapitates Deadpool, destroying one of the containment buildings in the process. Stryker arrives and shoots Logan in the head with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. Before he can shoot Kayla, she grabs him and uses her mutant power to persuade him to turn around and walk away until his feet bleed. Logan regains consciousness but has lost his memory; he sees Kayla's body but does not recognize her. In a mid-credits scene, a weary Stryker is being detained for questioning by some MPs, in connection to the death of his superior, General Munson (whom Stryker did in fact kill earlier after Munson's declaration of his intent to shut down the former's project). Appearances Featuring *Logan / Wolverine (Jimmy Howlett) (first appearance chronologically) (origin revealed) Supporting *Gambit (Remy LeBeau) (first appearance) *Silver Fox (Kayla Silverfox) (only appearance) (death) Villains *Team X (only appearance) **Major William Stryker **Sabretooth (Victor Creed) (first appearance chronologically) **Deadpool / Weapon XI (Wade Wilson) (first appearance) **Blob (Fred Dukes) (first appearance) **Kestrel (John Wraith) (only appearance) (death) **Agent Zero (David North) (only appearance) (death) **Bolt (Chris Bradley) (only appearance) (death) Others *Thomas Logan (only appearance) (death) *John Howlett (only appearance) (death) *Elizabeth Howlett (first appearance) *Scott Summers (first appearance chronologically) *Emma Silverfox (first appearance) *Professor Charles Xavier (cameo) *Jason Stryker (first appearance chronologically) *Travis Hudson (only appearance) (death) *Heather Hudson (only appearance) (death) *Dr. Cornelius (first appearance) *Dr. Carol Frost *General Munson *Union Army *Sudist Army *Second Reich's German Army *Third Reich's German Army *United States Army Cast *Hugh Jackman - James Howlett / Logan / Wolverine **Troye Sivan - Young James Howlett *Liev Schreiber - Victor Creed / Sabretooth **Michael James Olsen - Young Victor Creed *Danny Huston - Major William Stryker *Ryan Reynolds - Wade Wilson **Scott Adkins - Deadpool / Weapon XI *Taylor Kitsch - Remy LeBeau / Gambit *Daniel Henney - David North / Agent Zero *Will.i.am - John Wraith / Kestrel *Dominic Monaghan - Chris Bradley / Bolt *Kevin Durand - Fred Dukes / Blob *Lynn Collins - Kayla Silverfox / Silver Fox *Tim Pocock - Scott Summers *Max Cullen - Travis Hudson *Julia Blake - Heather Hudson *Peter O'Brien - John Howlett *Alice Parkinson - Elizabeth Howlett *Aaron Jeffery - Thomas Logan *Tahyna Tozzi - Kayla's sister / Emma The film includes numerous cameo appearances of younger versions of characters from the previous films, including Jason Stryker (William Stryker's lobotomized telepathic son whom he keeps in cryogenic suspension). There was a cameo for a young Storm, which can be seen in the trailer, but it was removed from the released film. A digitally rejuvenated Patrick Stewart also makes an uncredited cameo as a younger Charles Xavier who had not yet lost the use of his legs. Asher Keddie played Dr. Carol Frost. Poker player Daniel Negreanu has a cameo. Phil Hellmuth wanted to join him but was unable because he committed to an event in Toronto. X-Men co-creator Stan Lee said he would cameo, but ended up not appearing in the film. Release X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released on April 29, 2009, in the UK, Denmark, South Africa, and Australia; April 30, 2009 in the Philippines and in the Dominican Republic; and May 1, 2009 in the United States and Canada. A contest was held on the official website to determine the location of the world premiere on April 27. In the end, the Harkins at the Tempe Marketplace in Tempe, Arizona won the premiere. Home media On September 15, 2009, Fox Home Entertainment released X-Men Origins: Wolverine on DVD and Blu-ray disc. The two-disc Blu-ray includes commentary by Hood, another commentary by producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter, the featurette "The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein", the featurette "Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins", 10 character chronicles, two more featurettes, a trivia track, deleted scenes with commentary from Hood, two alternate sequences, a Fox Movie Channel premiere featurette and imdb BD Live technology. Disc two of the set includes a digital copy. Category:Films Category:Wolverine Category:X-Men Series